Construction is underway on the new General Cigarette Factory in Jinan, China, designed by Philippe Rondeau Architecture. Image: Courtesy Philippe Rondeau Architecture Extra Large Image

Rancho San Diego · 2008.0227
The $44 million Communication Arts Center is complete at Cuyamaca College in Rancho San Diego, California. NTD Architecture designed the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) facility, which includes a 366-seat multipurpose auditorium and 90-seat digital theater, as well as rehearsal space, music practice rooms, art studios, and a library. The three-story building is composed of steel and cast-in-place concrete. Rudolph and Sletten, Inc. served as construction manager.

Calgary · 2008.0226
The winning submission has been revealed for Stampede Trail, a retail and entertainment development planned adjacent to the Calgary Stampede rodeo in Calgary, Canada. The design includes wrought iron, trellises, glass, and wood, to create an ambiance both contemporary and rustic. Communication Arts Inc. (CommArts) of Boulder, Colorado, is serving as project designer. Calgary-based multidisplinary design firm Cohos Evamy is serving as project architect.

Irvine · 2008.0225
Irvine, California-based architecture, planning, and interiors firm McLarand Vasquez Emsiek & Partners recently promoted several staff members. Robert Calnon and Tory Fulwider are now senior associate partners. Calnon, an architect, joined the firm in 1999; Fulwider is the firm controller.

The firm also promoted five staff members to associate partner: Luis Enciso, project manager; John Anthony Kosi, project designer; James P. Montero, project manager and architect; and Wahid Yonus, LEED AP, project manager and architect. MVE Institutional, an affiliated firm, promoted Mel Tan, lead design architect, to associate partner.

Seven staff members have been promoted to associate: Jeff Canfield, PE, project manager; Patricia Centeno, project manager; Jerry McGuire, project manager; Chris Hoover, designer; Sherwin Pineda, designer; Kevin Chu, director of web and technical development; and Jacqueline Olsen, receptionist.

Jinan · 2008.0224
Construction continues on the new General Cigarette Factory in Jinan, China (depicted above). Philippe Rondeau Architecture of Hong Kong and Shenzhen designed the 120,000-square-meter (1.3 million-square-foot) project. The building's long glass facade is partly screened by a canopy of aluminum pipes, arranged in an undulating form to echo the shape of Yu Huang Ding mountain in the background. A pond surrounds the building in reference to the role of water around pavilions in traditional Chinese gardens. The corridor along the glass facade forms a visitor center and exhibit area. Completion is expected by the end of 2008.

Nanjing · 2008.0222
LAB Architecture Studio of London, Dubai, and Melbourne has revealed its winning master plan for a four-hectare (ten-acre) project in the Xianlin area of Nanjing, China. The design includes irregularly shaped variations on the standard podium-tower typology. Courtyards, sunken gardens, and plazas will make the project permeable to pedestrian circulation from all directions. The firm is also working on a sustainable framework plan for the Xianlin new town area.

Detroit · 2008.0222
SmithGroup has hired Michael J. Weingartz, PE, as electrical engineering discipline director and Darryl James as business development manager, both based in the firm's Detroit, Michigan, office. Weingartz joins SmithGroup after six years of working at Troy, Michigan-based Peter Basso Associates, where he served as vice president. He previously worked for SmithGroup for 15 years. James has over six years of experience in business development roles in the construction industry, most recently with the Trenton, Michigan, office of Structural Preservation Systems.

Sun City West · 2008.0221
Construction continues on the $86 million patient tower for Del Webb Hospital, located on Sun Health’s campus in Sun City West, Arizona. The Los Angeles, California, office of RTKL Associates Inc. designed the six-story, 175,000-square-foot (16,300-square-meter) patient tower with flexible shell space to accommodate anticipated future growth.

Exterior colors and materials visually connect the rectangular new tower to the existing buildings. The two-story glass lobby overlooks a garden that surrounds the drop-off area. The interiors will include regional materials in the lobby and patient rooms.

Opening is slated for spring 2009. Andrew Beilfuss, AIA, served as vice president-in-charge for RTKL.

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